Rotary fan.



M. NAKATA.

ROTARY FAN. APPUCATION FILED APR. 17, 1915.

1,167,71 1. Patented Jan:11,1916.

-\\\\\\\ p //A y A WITNESSES. l/VVE/VTOR W Masaflaci Wax/3211a 4 7 BY flu. #W Y I ATTORNEY UNKTED %TATE% PATENT Fl-E llQlEQ MASAHACHI NAKATA, CRYSTALSPRINGS, WASHINGTON.

ROTARY FAN.

Application filed April 17, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, f/lASAI-IACHI NAKATA, a subject of the Emperor of Japan, residing at Crystalsprings, in the county of Kitsap and State of "Washington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rotary Fans, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to improvements in rotary fans, and the object of my invention is to provide a rotary fan which embodies a plurality of blades and a hub portion to which said blades are attached by means which will maintain them in their relative operative positions while such fan is in a condition for practical operation, but which means will permit said blades to be folded compactly together to occupy little space when it is desired to place such fan in a receptacle, as ones pocket or as ones handbag. to carry it from place to place, and which fan shall be adapted easily to be attached and detached, as desired, to a projecting end of the shaft of a motor inechanism, as for instance, to the end of the driven shaft of a hand operated motor mechanism similar to that shown and described in mv co-pending application Serial No. 1,533, filed Jan. 11, 1915, for Lettters Patent for a vibrator, whereby such mechanism may be operated by the power of one hand of the operator while his other hand disposes the structure to cause such fan to direct a current of air in any desired direction. I accomplish this object by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the end portion of a fragment of a shaft which may be rotated by suitable motor mechanism, not shown, upon which end portion is mounted a fan embodying my invention which fan is shown in vcrtieal section on broken line in, m of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of said fan as it appears when detached from a shaft; Fig. 3 is a view of the same in front elevation as it appears when its blades are folded compactly together; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of parts of the same on broken line y, y of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals indicate like Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

Serial No. 21,942.

parts, 5 is a hub portion, preferably made of sheet metal, of a form somewhat rcse1nbling a triangle and provided with an oblong hole 20 through its central portion to adapt it to be secured in a fixed circumferential position on a shaft provided with opposite flattened surfaces.

A fan blade 6 of slightly flexible sheet metal material, as springy sheet metal or as sheet celluloid, is securely riveted by rivets 9 and 10 to one corner portion 11 of the hub 5 while like fan blades 7 and 8 are pivotally attached respectively to corner portions 12 and 13 by pivot rivets 141 and 15, respectively, whereby said blades 7 and 8 may be swung to the respective positions as shown in Fig. 3.

Near the outer end of each of the corner portions 12 and 13 is fixed a dowel pin (as dowel pins 16 and 17 respectively) which projects from the front surface thereof for a distance about equal to the thickness of said fan blades 6, 7 and 8, and the fan blades 7 and 8 are each provided with a hole, as holes 18 and 19. of a size to permit the respective one of the dowel pins 16 and 17 to enter thereinto, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 4, when said fan blades7 and 8 are moved to their positions as shown in Fig. 2. To move said fan blades 7 and 8 between their positions, as shown in Fig. 2, and their positions as shown in Fig. 3, they are pressed by ones hand to cause them to yieldingly move forward a sufficient distance to permit their rear surfaces to swing free from engagement with the top of said dowel pins 16 and 17, but when released from ones hand at the positions shown in Fig. 3 then, by reason of their springy material, they will spring back to cause said dowel pins 16 and 17 to project into their respective holes 18 and 19 thus to maintain them in their operative positions.

In Fig. l, 21 is the end portion of a frag ment of a shaft which is provided with a collar 22 fixed securely thereon, said shaft 21 terminating with a screw-threaded portion 23 upon which is removably disposed a milled nut 24:.

A portion of the collar 22, adjacent to the screw-threaded portion 23, is flattened on opposite sides to have a cross-section corresponding to the shape of the hole 20 in the hub 5 of the fan and upon such portion of said collar 22 is disposed said hub 5 of the fan, where it is securely fastened by pressure of the milled nut 2% in an obvious manner.

The several blades 6, 7 and 8 are symmetrically disposed each with its plane at a slight angle with respect to the plane of the hub 5, whereby, when rotated, they may act in a well known manner to create a current of air, and the direction of rotation, as indicated by the arrows, should be such as will tend to cause them to be pressed back against the front surfaces of the corner portions 11. 12 and 13 of the hub 5.

, Manifestly a fan may have more than three fan blades or only two, and the form and dimensions of parts of my invention may be changed without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

A rotary fan comprising a polygonal hub, a pivot located in each angle of said hub between the apex of the angle and the center of the hub, a stop pin located adjacent the apex of each angle, and blades each having an end carried by said pivot and provided with openings registrable with said stop pin.

In witness whereof I, hereunto subscribe my name this third day of April, A. 1)., 1915.

MASAHACHI NAKATA.

Witnesses:

FRANK TARREN, Jonnson.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Fatent,

Washington, D. C. 

